Almost one year ago to the day, Ficken lived a nightmare,
missing four field goals against Virginia, the last one a potential
game-winner. He became the butt of jokes for some and the target of angry and
hurtful tweets and messages from others. His teammates and head coach Bill O'Brien
stuck by him, as did the Penn State student body. During pregame warm ups, the
students would cheer wildly when he would convert his practice attempts.
Students even devoted a sign to their struggling kicker.

Ficken survivied the following weeks, but continued to
struggle, even with extra points. As the season wore on, he seemed to find his
groove, converting the final ten attempts, including a 37-yarder in overtime
against Wisconsin, which turned out to be the game winner.

In this season's opener against Syracuse, Ficken picked up
right where he left off, booting three field goals, including a career-long
46-yarder. The performance earned him the Big Ten conference's Special Teams Player of the Week. That's quite a
turnaround from the disastrous start of 2012.